FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – Despite the Federal Government’s position on marijuana many states, including Texas, are moving closer advancing legislation or have even voted to change the laws regarding the personal use of marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes.

With voter approval to legalize – Colorado and Washington are now seeking to regulate the newly legal drug and keep it away from children, without being so strict that weed stays in the black market.

The DFW chapter of NORML, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, held it’s first ever conference in downtown Fort Worth over the weekend to share the message with fellow Texans that support removing criminal penalties for the private possession and responsible use of marijuana by adults.

“We want to minimize abuse and prevent it’s availability to kids by implementing age controls” says NORML founder and attorney Keith Stroup. In fact the group wants marijuana to be treated just like cigarettes and alcohol – to tax it properly and to have age controls in place to govern it’s purchase.

Stroup was one of many high-powered speakers at the event that included local attorneys, activists, law enforcement officials and a former California Superior Court judge.

Gray served on the Orange County Superior Court from 1989 – 2009 and spent most of his legal career dealing with drug-related issues. Gray, who admits to never using an illicit drug, is an outspoken critic of drug laws and the War on Drugs. He was recently the VP candidate for the Libertarian Party in 2012.

“Eighty-five percent of illegal drug users in the US, use only marijuana”, said Gray. He feels if the Federal Government will regulate and control marijuana “they will not be able to justify the colossal bureaucracy, the expensive bureaucracy to fight the war on drugs.”

According to Mason Tvert, with MPP, investigators are wasting millions of dollars going after casual users. “There is no logical reason why law enforcement officials should be spending their time arresting and prosecuting adults simply for possessing a product that is objectively less harmful than alcohol,” he said.

Setting up a structure would allow states to spend less on enforcement, jails, trials and more and it would increase revenue due to it being taxed — a figure that has been supported by the MPP.

According to the party’s written platform, Democrats in Texas are urging the President, the Attorney General and Congress to support the move.

Prohibiting marijuana use puts the control of marijuana production and distribution in the hands of drug cartels and street gangs. “On the black market no body asks for your ID,” says Keith Stroup. DFWNORML wants to change that.